Alkaff Arcade

Alkaff Arcade, also known as The Arcade, was a prominent building on Collyer Quay in Singapore. Completed in 1909 for the Alkaff family, it was the first indoor shopping centre on the island. Known for its Moorish-style architecture, it was "hailed as Singapore’s best-known waterfront landmark". The building was demolished in 1978 to make way for an office tower.

Description

The "solid and ornate" featured arches and two onion domes that were in the Moorish-style. It also featured a cast-iron façade, which was "characteristic of 1900s Victorian architecture". External pillars were decorated with coloured tiles while the interior featured mural ornamental tiles, most of which were green in colour. At its completion, it was "deemed to have broken the monotony of commercial architecture in Singapore." The building was primarily made of iron and cement, with fittings and inner floorings being constructed of wood.

The building also served as a thoroughfare linking Collyer Quay to Raffles Place. The Straits Times wrote: "Passing into the new thoroughfare, one is immediately by the solidity and excellence of worksmanship of the ground floor shops on each side. The plate glass show windows run almost to the ground giving every facility a comprehensive display of wares and though perhaps a little bit more light would have been acceptable, the utmost use has quite evidently been made of the available space, and a little electricity will do the rest."<ref name = "ST">

The centre of the building featured a well leading up to a glass roof, providing "ample" air space. The Straits Times wrote that the ground floor "should prove one of the coolest spots in town." There were staircases on either end of the ground floor leading to a first floor and then the second, both of which featured a gallery with offices on either side, after which the staircases would have lead to the roof. The galleries of the upper floors featured iron pillars and railings. There was also a lift on either end.

History

Completed in 1900, the building was designed by prominent local architect Donald McLeod Craik of the architectural firm Swan and Maclaren for the Alkaff family, who were major property owners at the time. Other properties owned by the family included the Grand Hotel de l'Europe and the Alkaff Gardens. Built for $146,000, it stood on land which was acquired by Guthrie & Co. It was the first indoor shopping centre in Singapore and "rose above the neighbouring godowns of Collyer Quay." At its opening, The Straits Times called it a "handsome specimen of design and building" and "possibly the most unique" of the buildings which had been completed recently.

By the 1970s, the shops in the building mostly catered towards office workers in the area. Along with Change Alley, it was one of two walkways connecting Collyer Quay to Raffles Place. However, the building had already begun to "deteriorate" and it was deemed a fire hazard. The Alkaff family had originally planned to redevelop the building into a modern office building, but eventually decided against that as there were already many office buildings being built in Singapore at the time. In 1973, it was sold to Singapura Developments for $12 million. By then, it was generating $18,000 a month through rent, which was "lower than expected".

In 1978, the building was demolished to make way for The Arcade, a 20-storey office building completed in the early 1980s.